About this course
Scandinavian furniture design has a deep history of considering people, culture, material, and society in design development. The course gives you the opportunity to explore this particular relationship and to grow your individual design capabilities through studio assignments, lectures, Field Studies, and workshop activity producing your own furniture prototype. This course is taught vertically, and expectations relate to you as an individual student.
Syllabus
Spring 2026 – PJ + TS
Go to syllabusPre-requisites
Enrollment in a professional school or department of architecture or design. Two spatial design studios at university level. Experience with stationary power tools and hand tools.
Recommended language course
Use the city as your classroom through the combined lens of learning more about Danish language and culture with a focus on architecture and design. If you enroll in this studio, consider also enrolling in the 3-credit elective course Danish Language and Culture for Architecture and Design Students.
See more details for Danish Language and Culture for Architecture and Design Students.
Faculty
Anne Brandhøj
MA Cand.des. (Furniture Design, The Royal Danish Academy, 2017), BA (Furniture Design, The Royal Danish Academy, 2014) Exchange student (Rhode Island School of Design, 2012), BA (Human Nutrition, Aarhus University, 2007). Teacher, The Royal Danish Academy, 2017-2025. Founding partner, BLY Studio, 2020-present. Teacher, The Forestry University – Beijing, 2018. Chairman, The Female Design Collective Rundkant, 2013-present. Teacher, Kunsthøjskolen – Holbæk, 2019-2022. Teacher, Krabbesholm Højskole – Skive, 2022-2023. With DIS since 2026.
Thomas Sigsgaard
Cand. arc. Copenhagen 1995. PLH Architects 1995-98, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects 1998-2001, Over vandet Architects (Own office 2001 – 2007 ), Salto & Sigsgaard IS 2007 – 2020 , DIS (Professor Architecture & Design 2001-2007), DIS, Lecturer/censor 2007-present, Consultant; Eco Conscious Japan 2013-present , Arkitekt maa Thomas Sigsgaard (Own office 2020-present). With DIS since 2025.
Erling Christoffersen
Cabinetmaker (1974), Architect, M.A.A. (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1982). Own office since 1979. Professor, School of Architecture (1986-89). Professor, Denmarks Designskole (1989-2005). Distinguished Visiting Professor at University of Washington. With DIS since 1998.
Peter Johansen
Peter Johansen graduated from The Danish Design School (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design), the line of Furniture and Spatial Design, in 2004. He has received several grants from the Danish Arts Foundation. Peter Johansen’s working process often involves modelling and experimenting in a scale of 1:1. He finds inspiration for his work in everyday life and materials and his immediate surroundings. In his own words, ’I guess I just have a habit of noticing my surroundings!’ He characterizes his own work as logical and as a flirt with banality. And as the son of a Norwegian father and a Swedish mother, Peter Johansen is a real mixture of a true Scandinavian. Scandinavian in his spirit, modern in his expression. With DIS since 2019.
Long Study Tour
Short Study Tour
About this tour
Core Course Week, including this short Study Tour to western Denmark, forms an integral part of your studio curriculum by exposing you to high-quality historic and modern furniture design, and design in general. Not only will you discover the qualities that make furniture quintessentially ‘Danish,’ you will also experience Danish culture from traditional cuisine, art, and concerts. You will make studies of significant furniture design, visit production facilities, and study the use of furniture in concrete settings in museums and public buildings.
The site visits, as sensory design experiences, provide you the opportunity to develop your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which you can apply in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
- Study contemporary and traditional Danish furniture in use and in exhibition settings
- Gain an understanding of Danish history, geography, and culture outside of Copenhagen
- Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a visual journal
Possible activities
- Visit furniture production facilities like Midform and JM Rør
- Study of Kaare Klints furniture commissioned for Fåborg Museum in their actual setting
- Visit traditional and modern Danish village churches to understand tradition